Conviction (Club Destiny 1)

“Thanks, Trev. Hey, can you shut the door behind you?”

She watched as Trevor pulled the door shut behind him, suddenly hoping he was in the running for her position. He would make a terrific director and the whole office knew it. But, she didn’t have time to think about that right now. She was nervous. More nervous than she probably should have been, but there was no way to calm the rioting butterflies taking flight in her stomach.

Grabbing the makeup compact out of her desk drawer, Sam powdered her nose and applied a coat of gloss to her lips. Just when she was putting the compact back in the drawer, her desk phone rang. She glanced down at the caller ID and noticed it was coming from Logan McCoy’s desk.

“Samantha Kielty.” She greeted as professionally as she could muster.

“Ms. Kielty, this is Deanna, Mr. McCoy’s admin. I’m calling to set up the video conference with Mr. McCoy.”

“Good afternoon, Deanna.” She replied to the chipper voice as she leaned back in her chair. She noted the time was fifty five after the hour. If anything, this girl was seriously efficient.

“Ms. Kielty, could you please provide me with your computer’s IP address?”

“Please call me Sam.” She prompted and then dutifully read off the IP address for the video conference.

“Thank you, Sam. Mr. McCoy will join the call momentarily.” The happier than should be allowed voice responded.

Samantha sat motionless, watching her computer monitor as the information came up on the screen. The live picture of herself in the bottom right hand corner gave her pause, and she fought back the urge to smooth her hair. She didn’t know how long it would take for the call to be set up, so she sat patiently, staring at herself on the computer screen. She was relieved she hadn’t chosen to dress too casually that day.

Normally she wore jeans and a t-shirt on Friday, but she had opted to put on the new outfit she purchased the previous weekend, a form fitting emerald green collared shirt her mother said made her eyes stand out, and a pair of very flattering jeans she found at Buckle. Her jewelry was minimal as always, but she donned the new earrings her mother suggested on their little shopping trip.

A moment later, Sam was staring at the image of a man she presumed was Logan McCoy, and her breath hitched in her throat.

She didn’t know what she expected, but the man staring back at her was as far from it as he could have been. Surely this wasn’t the real McCoy, Samantha thought, unable to hold back the laugh. Wow, hopefully the cheesy didn’t come out in the interview.

“Good afternoon, Samantha.” The deep baritone rang through her office as she stared back at the image.

The saying “too handsome for words” was an understatement when it came to the man on the monitor. He was devastatingly handsome with his short, dark hair and his penetrating hazel eyes. His face was flawless, freshly shaven and intensely masculine. His nose slightly crooked, and his cheekbones defined, giving him a rugged edge, not the baby faced executive appearance she often thought of.

More bad boy than high paid executive. Not a man she would expect as a president of anything.

Nope, she was expecting someone with gray hair, a receding hairline and possibly a little extra weight. Definitely not the sinfully attractive image reflected back at her from the screen.

Sam realized she couldn’t sit there and not say anything. Thankfully, her brain functioned well enough to greet him back so she didn’t look like a total idiot. “Good afternoon.”

At this point, she’d be lucky he even still considered her after she sat mute and ogling his image for no telling how long.

Chapter Four

“How are you?” Logan asked the woman staring back from his screen. As many times as he had to do one of these video conferences, he always found them to be a little too intimate. It certainly wasn’t much different than sitting face to face with someone, but for some reason, he felt as though he was on display.

Sitting in his office, the door closed so he could have some privacy, Logan found himself taking in Samantha’s appearance. Maybe Alex had gotten to him. He wasn’t interviewing her for a date, so he wasn’t quite sure what it was about her that had him captivated. Despite Alex’s repeated attempts to build her up, Logan hadn’t quite expected her to be so… so… pretty.

The photo on file, the same one they used for her access badge, didn’t do her any justice. Those pictures were just a step above a driver’s license photo anyway. And yes, maybe he expected her to be a little attractive, especially with the way Alex had gone on and on about her, but this woman, she wasn’t just pretty. He’d say she was more exotically stunning.